Showing posts with label Ptolemaic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ptolemaic. Show all posts

Friday, 3 January 2014

Thessalians, and plans for 2014

Here's a unit I finished last week. They are later Thessalian cavalry in a rhomboid formation, cantering across the Boeotian plain. Mate Nick Speller painted 6 of these Foundry Miniatures, and I painted 3 more to match, shield transfers, basing etc.


Thessalians often fought in a manoeuvrable rhomboid formation, that could easily change direction through 90 or 180 degrees.  Below, here they are brigaded with my previously-painted Thessalians, who will shortly be re-based in the same style. They'll mostly serve with my Ptolemaic army.


In terms of 2014, I hesitate to plan too far ahead, for as they say "no battle plan survives contact with the enemy". However, here's the first seven months loosely sketched out.  

January
  • Finish swan-necked trade ship “Ceres”
  • Finish and base a final unit of Late Romans
  • Finish and base two units of Shaun’s Goths
  • Finish two elements of Impetus-based Roman cavalry
  • Buy and build 5 large gaming boards

February to April
  • Paint  100 EI Roman Legionaries, finish and re-base 100 other EI Roman Legionaries
  • Finish and Base 12 British Auxiliary cavalry
  • Paint and base 6 Auxiliary cavalry
  • Finish and base remainder of the Impetus EIRs.

May
  • Pontoon Bridge and other terrain for possible Partizan game

June to July
  • Finish and base 200 more phalangites for possible Other Partizan game, and the Southern Autumn shows
In terms of resolutions, this year I only have one, which is to finish play-testing and publish my rules!

Thursday, 20 June 2013

A tale of two Ptolemies

For last month's Raphia game, I found myself in the unusual position of having a commanding general too many. I never got around to posting the "finished" shots... 

The first Ptolemy IV, below, is from Polemarch, kindly donated by Jim Clarke, who commissioned the range.  I put him on a Foundry horse, asked Nick to paint him, and gave him a couple of Polemarch aides (painted by Raglan), an Aventine Standard and a Salute-giveaway Punic military advisor (very kindly donated by Jeffski off the WD3 forum).  I named this Ptolemy the Effete Youth.


I also wanted a Ptolemy with more military bearing; after all he did lead the bodyguard cavalry, in the battle.  The Dashing Commander below is an Aventine, with a Polemarch standard-bearer, again both on Foundry horses and painted by Nick Speller. The eagle symbol was used by the Ptolemies.


On the day of the game, I went with the Effete Youth, over the Dashing Commander.  The rest, as they say, was history...

Monday, 27 May 2013

The last phalanx...

...for the time being.


This is an unusual unit, as only the front 2 elements are fully based.  The rear 4 bases are temporary, and consist of 32 figures in the same pose.  When the figures that are still off with the painter arrive, I'll mix them together with these, and re-base.  

I plan to carry on with the phalanx in a more low-key manner, after Raphia.  At some point, I'll want to build a late Macedonian or Seleucid phalanx, too.

Thursday, 16 May 2013

Another day, another phalanx...


These are the based rear-rankers for my Machimoi phalanx, that I showed (unbased) a few days ago. 

Machimoi were recruited from amongst the native Egyptians, and I've given some of them a slightly darker skin tone, accordingly.  Most are un-armoured (the armoured minority were painted by Craig, thanks!), and I based the tunic colours on those shown in Stephane Thions's Soldat Lagide.  I really love the Foundry WotG pikemen, and the un-armoured ones are so very easy to paint.

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Yet more phalangites

I thought it might be fun to sum up where I've got to, with 30 days to go.

Here are the other elements of the phalanx, finished so far.  All are clickable...  The line:-


 and the libyans/peltastoi/agemata basilikoi.


Finally, below is a collage of the 6 finished units, so far; 2 machimoi, 2 line, the libyans and the peltastoi/agema.  You'll need to click this one...


Still 240 minis short!

Friday, 5 April 2013

Agemata Basilikoi

I've not had a chance to photograph these until now, these are the Ptolemaic guard, with the Agemata on the right, and the Peltastoi on the left, they are clickable.  


The peltastoi are the junior unit.  There is some controversy about how they were equipped; whether with a full length or shortened sarissa, or even as light infantry.  I went for the full 100mm.

A lousy photo, I'm afraid, I'll take a proper one when they are finished (they aren't flocked yet).      The minis are a mix of Foundry (mostly) and Polemarch.  Flocking will have to wait, as I want to focus on painting all the remaining pike minis, first (6 down, 5 to go).  Then I'll have a week or two of flocking hell, to face.

Monday, 4 March 2013

Soldat Lagide


I received this book by Stephane Thion, on the various Egyptian Macedonian armies, in the post at the weekend.  Stephane is a French author and gamer, with whom I've occasionally corresponded; he seems like a very nice chap.  The book has 64 pages and is and packed with simple but beautiful colour reconstructions of Ptolemaic uniforms, from the founding of the kingdom to the arrival of Caesar.  Many of these illustrations are taken from grave stelae (handily naming the deceased under each drawing), and others are hypothetical.  I found the colours very useful, in particular there's one chart showing the colours from the grave stelae, all together.

Everything is there, from the agema, through the phalanx, to the exotic Galatians and Sudanese.  There are even some cavalrymen with horses and riders fully covered in textile armour... which I recall described in an old Slingshot.

There is a good deal of text, in French.  My reading French is poor and it will take me quite a while to work through this, but I'd recommend the book on the strength of the colour illustrations, alone. They are beautiful, and so very useful to a gamer/painter.  I bought my copy on Amazon.

Saturday, 26 January 2013

Chalkaspides

Chalkaspides is the term used to describe the bronze-shielded phalangites, in Successor armies.  You may be familiar with the related term agyraspides which indicated silver-shielded guards, and leukaspides, which may have been applied to white-shielded reservists (although Nick Secunda has recently challenged this).


These are the first two completed chalkaspides units (of an eventual five) for my Raphia phalanx.  They are in "Sidon" helmets, my absolute favourite Successor headgear, which marks them out as later Successors.  "Sidons" crop up on the eponymous stelae from Gaza, and in a scene on the Palestrina mosaic.  Stephane Thion tells me that the type may have become general in the later Successor period, and that I might therefore be able to use them as part of a Pontic army.


The miniatures are a mix of Foundry (30%) and Gripping Beast (70%), with mostly Foundry shields gained from a swap with Allen Curtis. 

This gives me 3 complete units of the 12 that I need, although I have got quite a few other painted and part-painted minis ready, waiting for comrades to be painted.